SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 6, 2017 — This October, the Petco Foundation, in partnership with Natural Balance® pet food, invites the public to join them to celebrate and support the transformative impact that therapy, service, and working animals have on individuals and communities around the world. With a goal to raise more than $2.5 million in Petco stores and online, the Helping Heroes campaign supports the incredible work of organizations that help animals who save and improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people each and every day.

These helping heroes safeguard our military, rescue people impacted by disasters, give independence, comfort the sick, and help children learn to read. The Petco Foundation has invested more than $10 million to support this life-changing work.

Throughout the campaign, the Petco Foundation will share stories about the transformative impact these animals have on human lives. On Saturday, October 14, the public is invited to meet a helping hero animal in select Petco locations nationwide. Details and participating store locations can be found at petcofoundation.org/heroes.

Some of the amazing animal heroes being featured in this campaign include:

Hank, a retired explosive detection dog from Kuwait. Thanks to Mission K9 Rescue, Hank was able to retire back in the United States and be adopted by Lloyd, a Vietnam veteran and combat tracker, who decades earlier had to leave his working dog behind after the war.

Justice, a dog adopted from a shelter and trained to become a seizure alert dog for a teenage pageant queen.

Skye, a former shelter dog, who was rescued and trained by the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation as a search and rescue canine.

Mokey, a once-homeless cat, who was adopted from Town Cats of Morgan Hill and certified as a therapy pet who now helps children learn to read and visits seniors in nursing homes.

“We believe that the love of a pet has the power to change lives, communities, and even the world,” said Petco Foundation Executive Director Susanne Kogut. “These Helping Hero pets are certainly doing that every day. What is even more exciting is when we see rescued shelter pets who are then trained as service, working, or therapy pets. We invest significantly in organizations that save these pets and transform them into helping heroes.”

Individuals can support the Helping Heroes campaign by donating online or in a Petco or Unleashed by Petco store October 7 through October 29, 2017. To learn more about the Foundation and this campaign, visit www.petcofoundation.org/heroes.

About the Petco Foundation

At the Petco Foundation, we believe that every animal deserves to live their best life. Since 1999, we’ve invested more than $200 million in lifesaving animal welfare work to make that happen. With our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners, we inspire and empower communities to make a difference by investing in adoption and medical care programs, spay and neuter services, pet cancer research, service and therapy animals, and numerous other lifesaving initiatives. Through our Think Adoption First program, we partner with Petco stores and animal welfare organizations across the country to increase pet adoptions. So far, we’ve helped more than 5.3 million pets find their new loving families, and we’re just getting started. Visit petcofoundation.org to learn more about how you can get involved.

Stories Of Success

Search Dog Foundation

The Search Dog Foundation saves high-energy dogs from animal shelters across the country and trains them to harness their drive and tenacity for lifesaving missions around the world. To support the Search Dog Foundation’s lifesaving work, we’ve invested $2.5 million to build the Canine Pavilion at the organization’s new National... Read more »